Maus

What do we Americans know about poverty?   What do we know about ration cards, brutal occupations, and extermination camps?   We don't, because we have become too concerned with our self-image, bank statements, and the size of our cars and house.   Instead of starvation, we have a rising obesity rating.   Instead of an oppressive fascist government, we live in a free, capitalist nation.   Instead of restricted religion, we enjoying religious freedoms.   Instead of being poor and impoverished, we have grocery stores and free markets to buy from cheaply.   We know NOTHING of the trials that millions of Jews and other Europeans endured during the second World War.   Maus is very unique story, especially because it is a comic book, which is based off the story of a Jewish family that underwent horrible oppression during the Holocaust.   The different ethnicities are represented by different animals.   The Jews are mice, the Poles are pigs, the French are frogs, and the Nazis are large, mean cats that oppress all the other animals.   The family in the story underwent horrible things.   They were always having to relocate, and hide to avoid being seen by the Nazis.   They were never sure who they could trust, even their Jewish and Polish friends, because you could never be sure who was being bribed to turn you into the Nazi authorities.   The family also went through the notorious extermination camp called Auschwitz, which was one of the worst camps ever created.   They would put Jews in straight lines and shoot them that way in order to save ammunition.   The gas chambers, ovens, and disgusting living quarters made short work of even the most resilient people.   Although the main character in the story, Vladek, made it through the camp alive, it had forever changed him.   People who endured the camps and oppression under the Nazis were extremely tough, and learned to save every little thing that had some possible value.   When Vladek is older, he even grabs paper towels at the public restrooms so he won't have to buy napkins.   Many older people today who lived during this time, still live in this way, because they were so used to squeezing a dollar out of every dime.   Today, almost everything we own is made for being disposed of easily.   We have gotten in the bad habit of wasting everything from gasoline to food.   We should not grow too comfortable with our easy lifestyles, because with a recession on the way, we might have to change we Americans live out everyday lives.   We can only afford to be wasteful for so long.   Hopefully we will learn from the hardships that our grandparents and great-grandparents went through and think twice before we complain about some miniscule thing.

Fishing

Hey I've got an idea:  Let's get in our little bass boat, head out on the lake for couple hours, and hopefully catch some fish.   Now, why not just go the store and buy some quality salmon from Alaska?   Fishing in my experience, has been the biggest time waster, and is usually more frustrating than satisfying.   The last time I went fishing, it was with my friend and his dad.   We went to a slow moving river where there were hundreds of young rainbow trout just waiting to be caught, or so we thought.   We picked a comfortable place on the side of the river, and set up camp.   We opened our tackle boxes and then began to assemble our fishing gear.   We got right at it, and began our little fishing adventure with great anticipation.   About 2 hours into it, none of us had gotten so much as a nibble on any of our baits.   As we moved up stream, we came upon a drain outlet, where hundreds of big trout were gathered for what seemed to be some urgent meeting.   We thought we had cashed in big when we confidently cast our lines into the sea of swarming trout.   It seemed almost too easy.   But our great amazement, we could see the trout looking at the bait as it floated by, probably laughing at our vain efforts to get them with our worms and shiny pieces of metal.   After this "fishing trip", I did a little research on my own, and found out that trout are notoriously smart fish that are not easy to trick.   The time of day has to be just right before they get really hungry, otherwise they just aren't interested.   I came away from that little venture with a very dim view of fishing.   I found to be above all very boring, but also very frustrating.   If it's done for leisure/burning time, that's one thing.   To do it for actually eating what you catch, you would have to be a little off.   

Landscaping

I've done landscaping for 3 years, and will quit in a couple months before I move. I have had great success with it, and have made very decent money at it too. It has been very hard work at time, and has often interrupted my school life and personal life also. I worked full time almost every week between april and november, and sometimes put in extra hours to pay for the little hobbies that I had. It was fun, and very physically exhaustive at times. After the long, hot, humid summer days I would roll out of my truck and into the cold embrace of the shower. After the shower, I felt as if my dark skin was radiating heat and that I was outside under the sun. Apart from the tan and the great bankroll, I didn't enjoy my job that much. I had fromt start always thought of it as a means to an end, as far as paying for college was concerned. I had no plans of doing it for the rest of my life. Cutting grass is a very simple, and boring job if you really think about it. Not to mention dangerous too. When you're around machines all day long that spin blades and rubber twine at 15,000 rpm, your chances of losing a finger, or even more, go up dramatically. Even on those hot summer days, we are especially not on our guard when it comes to being careful. All it takes is once. But I can say with great joy that I have not been the victim of such an accident, and have managed to come away from the job with no injuries whatsoever, for which I am very thankful. Especially if you are trying to pay for college, landscaping and lawn mowing is a great way to make some fast cash to keep those loans from getting too big, if you willing to work. It is rather senselesss work if you think about it, but in my case, it got me the money I needed, and kept me physically active throughout high school. In addition to the money, I also gained invaluable experience in time management, people skills, and money. Constantly dealing with people and their money opens you up to some pretty interesting scenarios, which are almost always touchy to deal with, because they involve peoples' money. I learned how to set up appointments and deal with a hectic schedule. I learned that making money isn't what makes you rich; it's what you spend it on, and how you invest and save your money in the long run that determines your financial wealth. Although it wasn't always that pretty to be covered in grass at the end of the day, I can say with absolute certainty that I learned some invaluable lessons, and got great life experience that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else.

Abstract Art

I try not to stress myself over the billions of things that I either don't know or understand. I try to keep life as simple as possible. Period. Life has enough problems of it's own, which is reason enough not to add to them. Right now, I'm in a coffee shop, thinking of what to write about. It didn't take long to notice the vast array of over 30 abstract paintings hung all over the wall, most of which were retailed at over $600. Now, I don't know if it's just me, but I personally can't justify paying a couple week's paycheck on a canvas that looks like some painter just sloped random colors on it and called it some extravigent work of art. I spent over 5 minutes just trying to guess what this one particular painting was trying to portray. Was it a nuclear explosion? A really bad hairdo? Instead, when I took a closer look at the painting's description, it turned out that the painting was supposed to be a blow fish. A blow fish? I mean, cummon. In a fit of frustration I left my soft couch to continue surveying the paintings that seemed to clutter the walls. Was that painting a resemblance of chocolate? A sheperd? Some distant forest? Out of the 30 paintings, I managed to guess only one of the paintings. After I finished examining the final painting, it finally hit me that abstract art's purpose, as far as I was concerned, was to make the observers confused, but only at first. Abstract art in many ways, is more complicated than normal paintings. Normal paintings of people or scenery communicate much easier to the ovserver because the whole intent behind the painting is to be as blatantly obvious as possible. Abstract art, in many ways, is more fun and challenging to look at because it requires at least some imaginative thinking in order to intrepret the painting. I quickly resolved to put my previously naive and ignorant attitude towards abstract art away for good. Instead of flatout dismissing it as a sloppy mockery of normal paintings, I instead acquired a greater appreciation for art that was radically different from the obvious paintings, such as The Mona Lisa and The Creation of Adam. Is there a life lesson to be learned of this experience? I would say so. I have started to look at new things not through the lenses of skepticism, but instead with an attitude of adventure and excitement. Life takes on a whole new flavor when you open you mind to the things around you.

Life Changing Moments

Instead of it being one paticular class or person that changed my thinking, it was rather a group of about three or four men who changed my thinking.   Most of them were teachers, but one just a friend that I had met.   All of them had been through very rough times, and were great examples of what men should be.   Two of them were teachers, one for ethics and one for debate.   The other was probably one of the most radical people I had ever met.   Just by listening to them, and how they had lived the early years of their lives made me look up to them.   All three had been through horrible stuff and had lived through it to tell what it was like.    As we teenagers grow up into our tweens, we have many ideologies of what life is like as a celebrity or someone with great popularity and wealth.   We tend to naively look at these lifestyles as if they are the best way to live.   One of the three influential people that I have learned from lived that perfect American dream.   He had expensive cars, grew up with big names such as Steve Mcqueen and John Wayne, dated playboy bunnies, had large amounts of wealth, and was a soccer and tennis pro.   But by the time he had hit 25, most of his life's accomplishments had washed down the drain through various means.   To be continued...

The mind blocker

I am trying to push it out of my mind, but it just seems to consume my every thought.   Yes, you guessed it.   I'm moving, and this can either be relief or dread.   Moving out of state or out of the country can be like pressing your life's reset button.   There's no going back, and no control+z for undoing something you wish you hadn't.   It's hard to think about the future, much less plan for it when you know that you will basically have a different identity in a year or so.   We tend to identify ourselves with our surroundings; it defines what kind of person we are, to a certain degree.   The reason moving can consume so much of your brain's mental energy is because you have to view everything that is currently going in your life as temporary.   In the end, all things are temporary, but it's different when you know when things will end.   It's kind of like how no one wants to know the date of their death.   If you think of it as an adventure that could take you excited places, your attitude should change, and you should look into the horizon with anticipation for the unknown.

What I see

I see dolphins jumping out of the water in the distance, and surfers competing for the biggest waves. You look out over the ocean on the eve of a sunset and you can see all the little islands off in the distance.

Screams of delight ring in the air as kids plunge into the translucent water on the beach on a bright sunny day. There is nothing to compare to the sound of the wind blowing through palms trees; its such a distinctive sound, and is also very relaxing. I have fallen asleep under palm trees before, and it seems as if all life's troubles fade away and you are left looking up at a clear blue sky.

Hawaii is known for their pineapple fruit that grows naturally on surrounding landscapes. The fruit itself is so sweet and intense that if too much of it is eaten, it can make your mouth raw. It is a hearty fruit that just seems to be a symbol of freedom and enjoyment. If I could associate a taste with Hawaii, it would definitely be pineapple.

Although I did not grow up near Hawaii, I did grow up on the west coast, and quite close to the pacific ocean in fact. You can always tell when you are getting close the coastline when you're on a road trip. The ocean breeze that drifts inland can be smells from at least 20 miles away. The smell of salt, and all the thousands of other aromas that drift from the sea to greet you truly make you feel alive, in a regenerate sort of way. When you live by the sea, many people describe it as living on the edge.

The feeling of sand is unforgettable, it's smooth yet coarse texture running through your hands. You try to count all the little grains of sand, and you soon realize it is just as possible as counting the stars on a clear summer night. The feeling of the salty water on your body feels invigorating, but not so much as when you have an open sore or cut. It seems to burn so bad, but it is actually the salt purifying that cut or bruise.

Story Summary - I have just arrived in Hawaii in the middle of July, and am ready for a week full of fun and relaxation. Just being here in this warm climate is like therapy, especially after all those long dreary days sitting in my office doing paperwork. The culture seems to be so low-stress, and much more loose than my home in Los Angeles, where you spend more time sitting in traffic than you do with your family. It was time for a week where I could be alone somewhere else than a big city, where I could recollect myself for another year of work. I can't wait to just relax on the beach with a martini in my left hand and a book in the other. I can't imagine why anyone would ever want to move from this place; it's like paradise to the weary and stressed. Not only Hawaii, but all the little islands that surround it seem to all be the same. I'm not sure if I can make up my mind as to what I want to do with my only week of vacation. Should I go wind-surfing, take a hike into the lush foothills and mountains, or go to a Day Spa? There is no end to the opportunities for fun and relaxation at this beautiful tropical island. Maybe I should go into town and experience life with the native Hawaiians. It's hard to believe that the natives here are Americans by citizenship. They look and act so much different that your typical American from California or New York. America, if you really think about it, is such a ethnically diverse country. It will probably be hard to connect with the natives here, but that's kind of the reason I came here, because I wanted something different from my home back in Los Angeles. If you tend to look at the unknown, in this case Hawaiian culture, as an adventure, you will be much more free to engage the uncertain in an effective way. This will be a week to remember.